A team of Mississippi State University students is making a name for itself in the radio-controllable aircraft field.
With a second-place finish, Mississippi State”s Team Xipiter finished in the top five for the third straight year at the Unmanned Aircraft System Competition, held June 16-20 in St. Inigoes, Md. Sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, the competition pitted Team Xipiter against colleges, universities and high schools from throughout the U.S., Canada and India in a simulated combat mission.
Aircraft were judged on a number of factors, the most important being autonomous flight and the location and identification of targets, faculty adviser Calvin Walker said. The MSU team was able to identify six out of 10 targets, Walker said.
Mississippi State placed fifth in 2009 and captured a first-place finish in 2008.
The difference between this year and 2009, according to Walker, is last year”s plane lost its video feed upon takeoff. Things went smoother this year thanks to a new directional antennae, Walker said.
The team received similar vindication in 2008. The team crashed its plane during practice just four days prior to the 2007 competition and couldn”t fly. The mishap was especially hard on team members because they felt their aircraft was in a position to contend for the win.
Team Xipiter rebounded in 2008 and captured first place, much like this year”s team rebounded from last year”s setback to place second.
“We were extremely happy with that,” Walker said of this year”s finish.
The competition is designed to stimulate and foster interest in unmanned aircraft, technologies and careers by engaging students in challenging missions. North Carolina State University won the competition.
Also competing were the U.S. Air Force Academy, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, University of California at Los Angeles, University of California at San Diego, Virginia Commonwealth University, California State University at Northridge, Cornell University, Rutgers University, Florida International University, Sherbrooke University (Canada), University of Alberta (Canada), University of Manitoba (Canada), Delhi Technological University (India), University of Texas at Austin, Oakland University, Utah State University, Great Mills High School (Md.), and Hampton Roads High School (Va.). Sherbrooke and ERAU fielded two teams each.
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